Up & Running: Track and Field Hurdles into Spring Season

By Alex Pinto ‘17

Published March 2015

At the Dr. Jack Toms Invite on March 21, Marisa Quarti ‘18 finished first in the 100m hurdles with a time of 16.84s. Photo courtesy of Wildcat Athletics

The 2014-2015 Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Teams just finished up their winter season and have been preparing and competing in their spring season.

While the Track and Field team existed last year, this is the first year in which they have competed against other colleges. Last year was a test year during which they practiced and tried new events out. The team consists of sixteen women—eight first years, three sophomores, three juniors, and two seniors. The men’s side has eleven members—seven first years, two sophomores, one junior, and one graduate student. Although the team does not have a win-lose record, the members of the team have individual accomplishments.

There have been some significant changes since last year’s practice season that has prepared the team for this season. Some of these changes include increased recruiting. Dani Hill ’17 stated, “We added more specific coaches for the team. We now have a throwing coach, a field event coach, a distance coach, and a sprinting/hurdles coach. There is more equipment and definitely more dedication from the team.” Another big change about Track and Field from other Randolph sports is that, even as a division III school, its members compete against division I and division II teams. This breadth in competition can cause a gap in skill and speed. Hill said, “We take pride in the fact that several of our athletes compete neck-in-neck with athletes who are extremely experienced and qualified. Preparing takes focus, consistent training, and coming to practice with positivity and readiness to work hard.” The team is new, but eager to get better and better to compete in the future.

The indoor winter season was a little different than the spring season. For example, indoor tracks are half the size of outdoor tracks. Furthermore the energy on the track will be different in the spring because of the distribution of people at the outdoor track. Lastly, the temperature will increase due to the change in season. Hill said, “Most of the routines and use of the same facilities will remain the same, but we’re excited to actually break a sweat again.”

Some of the team’s accomplishments in the winter season include Diana Young ‘18 in the 60 with a time of 8.07s, Hill in the 800 with a time of 2:54, and Sophia Dill ’18 in the 5000 with a time of 22:12.

The spring season is currently underway, and the runners are battling and competing for better times than ever before. The spring team still has the same amount of people on both teams and the same relays. Head Coach Bill Cooper says, “The thing I am looking forward to most this season is the process of building a program from scratch.  It’s been an uphill process getting the College’s name out into the running community, but we have some great kids on the team that have bought into what we are trying to become and are invested in helping that process continue to move forward: adding more and more student-athletes; seeing the program grow and become more competitive within the conference over time; and seeing the hard work that our students put in daily at practice and the improvements they make, not just from week to week, but from their first year to their senior year.”